X-Message-Number: 1789 Date: Sun, 21 Feb 93 20:40:18 CST From: Brian Wowk <> Subject: CRYONICS member exclusion Michael Riskin: > To B.Wowk: Would you exclude a member if you believed such member was > detrimental to YOUR survival? An Alcor member is someone who pays dues and gets a magazine. I don't see how anyone paying dues and getting a magazine can threaten my survival. Of course, there is also a contractual obligation to provide suspension services, but Alcor already reserves the right to exercise discretion in performing suspensions under dangerous circumstances. The incidents which have motivated the current furor over membership exclusion arose because errors in judgement were made in entrustinig a new member with information that he should not have had access to. This same kind of error can be made whether a person is a member or not. For example, several years ago an accountant, who was not a member, absconded with $100,000 he was supposed to invest for Alcor overseas. The problems which some Board members now think can be solved be restricting membership can in reality only be solved by management and membership exercising more diligence in interacting with members and non-members alike. In the example above, I believe Alcor eventually sued the S.O.B., and this is the course of action that should be pursued for people who maliciously damage our organization. There should never be a need to revoke membership. As the long as people want to continue paying dues, why not accept them? Heck, it will help with legal fees for our suit against them. Rejection of members for punative, political reasons is the hallmark of a cult. I, for one, do not want to see Alcor become a cult. *That* would be deterimental to my survival. --- Brian Wowk Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=1789